ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses these and other issues through a close reading of La bella Arsene, retaining the methodology of analysis and integration of the programma, musical setting, and contextual elements. It describes the La bella Arsene represented the final collaboration between LePicq and Martn for Naples and their respective departures from the capital city. The exoticism of Arsene stands in stark contrast to the previous ballet examined, Il ratto delle Sabine, a well-circulated historical myth, whether as an opera or the basis for a ballet d'action. In fact there is more of a thematic consistency between La Zemira and LePicq's preceding ballets, the tale of Tamas Kouli-Kan followed by Li novelli sposi persiani. This experimentation was present, however, in LePicq's activities from his very first season, namely in the inclusion of dance in Mysliveek's opera Romolo ed Ersilia. Rather, the most pronounced departures in his last ballet allude to larger contextual issues within Neapolitan dance culture.
